H.E. Dr. Amin Hussein El Amiri inaugurates Kyowa Kirin’s GCC headquarters at Dubai Healthcare City

Kyowa Kirin International PLC, a subsidiary of Kyowa Kirin Co. Ltd., the global Japan-based specialty pharmaceutical company, today opened its new regional representative office in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The company’s new GCC headquarters, which has been officially inaugurated by His Excellency Dr. Amin Hussein El Amiri, Assistant Undersecretary for Public Health Policy and Licensing and Vice President of the Higher Committee of Drug Registration and Pricing in the Ministry of Health and Prevention, is located in Dubai Healthcare City and spearheads ambitious expansion plans across GCC and the wider region.

The opening event was also attended by His Excellency Dr Ramadan al Blooshi CEO Dubai Healthcare City, H.E Dr Akima Umezawa, Consul General of Japan to the UAE in addition to Toshifumi Mikayama, Director of the Board, Senior Managing Executive Officer at Kyowa Kirin Co. Ltd., as well as Abdul Mullick, President of Kyowa Kirin International PLC, whose focus is on Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Toshifumi Mikayama, Ph.D., Director of the board, Senior Managing Executive Officer of Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd., said: “As a pharmaceutical company we have a vital public role to play in saving lives and improving the quality of life of patients worldwide. The launch of Kyowa Kirin’s operations in the UAE reflects the global expansion of the company aiming to put smiles on the faces of as many patients as possible all over the world, including patients in the Middle East. 

“Japan and the UAE have traditionally enjoyed excellent bilateral relations with trade volumes growing year on year. Due to its positive investor-friendly economy and policies, the UAE will be a strategic partner as part of our global expansion under the One Kyowa Kirin banner to further the reach of our portfolio of innovations in in the core therapeutic areas of oncology nephrology and immunology  to secure long-term regional  growth in the Middle East,” added Mikayama-san.

Abdul Mullick, President of Kyowa Kirin International PLC also noted: “The inauguration of our new headquarters for the region represents a key milestone in the company’s efforts to contribute to the health and wellbeing of people around the world. The UAE is a role model in attracting multinational businesses due to its business-friendly environment, excellent infrastructure, good quality of life and openness to trade, capital, and labour flows. At Kyowa Kirin International, our underlying objective is to create new value through the pursuit of advances in life sciences and technologies and we look forward to expanding our operations across the region to help address unmet medical needs.”

The UAE's pharmaceutical market value in terms of US dollars was $1.51B in 2011 and increased at a CAGR of 13.2% to $2.20B in 2014. The market value is expected to increase further to $6.74B by 2023.[1] This increased focus on the development of the pharmaceutical industry has motivated and encouraged multinational players to become more involved in the UAE pharmaceutical industry with increased activities that focus on adding value to the current healthcare infrastructure, and patients’ wellbeing.[2]

Myriam Hakim, Kyowa Kirin International’s General Manager for the GCC, added: “The UAE has become the regional headquarters for some of the biggest multinational companies in the world. The country’s robust infrastructure, structured regulatory and healthcare system as well as its status as a prime destination for international talent have ensured continued business success. Our new office opening reflects our growing commitment to the country and the wider region as a whole.  Patients are at the core of everything we do at Kyowa Kirin International and we look forward to introducing our established portfolio of medicines, with an innovative pipeline of medicines across a number of therapeutic areas including rare diseases backed by solid research and development efforts to ultimately create new medical value.”

“Working closely with partners is a core element of Kyowa Kirin’s strategy. Through our presence in the region, Kyowa Kirin will build bridges between internal and external expertise to support the access of key innovations,” added Hakim. 

Kyowa Kirin is focused on contributing to human health and wellbeing of patients through innovative drug discovery and global commercialisation, driven by state of-the-art antibody technologies mainly in the core therapeutic areas of oncology, nephrology and immunology. In the region, the company has a particular focus on rare diseases. The novel drug discovery of Kyowa Kirin is firmly supported by the experience and technologies in research, development and manufacture of biologics, and by open innovation.